Young Adults discuss Synodal Church
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June 14, 2024On the weekend of Pentecost, I attended a gathering of more than 50 young adult leaders and ministers from all over the country to encounter, listen, and discern what it means to be a synodal Church.
In discussions led by Kayla August and Andy Jung, worship experiences and fellowship opportunities, we experienced many Pentecost moments – moments of rebirth, awakening and new life that wrote a significant story that sparked a fire, a desire, to go out and be messengers of that miracle of Pentecost to others. The miracle of speaking and LISTENING. The miracle of encountering and being, whose only limits are the limits of our world.
Pope Francis wrote in his 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelli Gaudium, “We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simply hearing. Listening is communication, an openness of the heart which makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur … Only through such respectful and compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth and awaken a yearning for the Christian ideal: the desire to respond fully to God’s love and to bring to fruition what he had sown in our lives.”
According to a Springtide research study completed in 2020, 91% of young people said an interaction is meaningful when they feel they are being listened to, and this is the basis of the dynamic of relational authority.
Relational authority is simply the idea that authority in this day and age is untrustworthy. Institutions, big companies – even religious authorities – no longer hold the credibility they used to. Who do young adults listen to? They listen to those who care for them and listen to them. These people hold relational authority.
The synodal process can be a Pentecost moment for us as Redemptorists. Let us ignite that fire in young people by telling the story of the Good News of Jesus through encountering, listening and discerning; by journeying with others so that they may see the beauty that is Jesus our Risen Redeemer.